Chapter Eight
"Thank you for dinner, Ororo," Kurt told her as they walked out the back door. "It was," he paused, "interesting."
Ororo looked slightly embarrassed, "They were just showing off for someone new, normally they are better behaved than that." She almost blushed at the powers her friends had wantonly displayed for Kurt's benefit. She had finally put a stop to it when Scott had tried to carve a slice of pizza out with his laser vision. Ororo sighed, she could always count on her friends to be as childish as possible when showing their powers off to a new mutant.
"I noticed Logan was missing," Kurt said, trying to changed the topic away from the slightly uncomfortable subject. "I was half expecting him to be laying some sort of elaborate 'Acme' trap for me."
"I actually think he was in the danger room," Ororo told him, wicked humor dancing in her eyes. "He had some apologizing to do." "Of course that doesn't mean that an anvil won't fall on you the minute you step outside." They both smiled at the image of Logan as Wiley Coyote.
Kurt glanced at the night, feeling somehow incredibly loathe to leave this woman. She had sparked something in him, that was a certainty. He turned back, stepping closer to her. "I will see you again, Ororo?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Just try and keep me away," she said just as quietly. He was so close it was almost driving her insane.
Kurt lifted his hand to her cheek, running one thumb over her lips. "Mein leibchen, my darling," he murmured moving steadily closer to her aching lips, "my love," he whispered, finally gently pressing them to hers. Their tongues met in a dance that seemed almost well-known, but no less precious for it's familiarity. The heady, euphoric feeling of passion wrapped them up in an impenetrable cocoon. Ororo was certain that if the Friends of Humanity sent a task force into the school to apprehend everyone she wouldn't even notice. Her entire world was his lips against hers and his hands seemingly everywhere at once, either unaware of the delicious torment they were causing or unable to stop themselves. The only thing that pulled them apart was a desperate need to continue breathing.
"Kurt," Ororo gasped, panting not only from a lack of air. "We should really stop doing that to each other," she said with a small grin. She noticed that her knees felt strangely weak at the moment.
Kurt took a deep breath, leaning his forehead to touch hers. "I try to stop myself, but my willpower is nonexistent where you are concerned."
She definitely knew the feeling. "We're going to have to be careful if you want to maintain that choir boy image," she told him with a joking smile that was completely at odds with the smoldering desire in her eyes. "You had better go Kurt, before I do something I won't regret."
Kurt was half convinced she really would, and absolutely sure that if she offered herself to him with another of those mind-blowing kisses he would never be able to resist. "Temptation certainly is all it's cracked up to be," Kurt thought as he teleported away from the Institute. He reflexively murmured a catholic prayer as he headed for a cold shower. Tomorrow he would call her again, he promised himself as he crawled into bed. He knew her schedule and she knew his, they were both certain they could manage to meet at least once a day. For the first time in a long time Kurt thanked God for making him a mutant, and then he fell asleep feeling better than he had in quite awhile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kurt awoke the next morning from a nebulous dream full of shadows and beautiful white-haired women. He sighed and unwound himself from the bright coverlet on his bed. It took him a record ten minutes to shower, dress, shave, and gather his things. He checked his messages and, satisfied that everything was finished, bamfed to work.
"Mr. Wagner, I finished the story and you need to check it over, the others already turned theirs in but mine's a little late; please don't fire me!" the petite intern said all in one breath and throwing a compellingly desperate gaze at him.
Kurt chuckled slightly at her comically desperate tone. "Do not worry, this is your first offence and technically it is still on time," he told her. His accent seemed a bit more pronounced this morning.
"Oh thank you, Mr. Wagner," she said with obvious relief. "I hope you like it, I worked really hard on it."
"Then I'm sure it will be perfect," he replied with a calm smile.
She gave him a radiant grin and almost skipped off to continue her work. Kurt shook his head at the youthful enthusiasm and continued to his office. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to make up for taking Saturday off. Almost four hours later Kurt had finished reading and organizing the next edition of The Provincial Herald and was more than ready for his break. "Especially since I'll be spending it with Ororo," he thought with a grin. He was about to bamf out when Steven Wallen opened his door.
"Yo, Kurt, come on, let's catch some lunch," he said with an infectious smile.
"Normally I would love to, but I have a date today," he told his friend.
Steve gave him a mock-stunned look, placing a hand to his chest in a melodramatic facsimile of a heart attack. "No way, are you telling me that Mr. Chastity has scored?" he asked, grinning broadly. He performed an oriental bow. "I have taught you well young grasshopper."
Kurt raised an aloof eyebrow. "Ororo is not a 'score', as you so delicately put it," Kurt told him. "She is-" he was cut off by a buzz from his intercom.
"Yes?" he asked, pushing the button.
"Mr. Wagner, there's someone here to see you," Vera Griphen, his assistant, told him.
Kurt's brow rose; it looked like Ororo had sought him out. "I'll be right out." He turned off the intercom and motioned to his friend. "Come, you can meet her," he told Steve, knowing the insanely curious man couldn't help but follow him.
"Hey, there you are, now we can eat," she said with a dazzling smile.
Kurt grinned back, feeling that familiar weakness come over him whenever she looked at him that way. "Ach, heaven forbid I keep you from your meal," he said, only half joking.
"And don't you forget it," she told him, pulling him down to give him a light kiss, the merest brushing of her lips against his. "What delicious temptation, mein sturmliebe," he told her.
"Please tell me that sturmliebe means sister," Steve moaned from behind them, his face twisted in an exaggeratedly hopeful expression.
"Sorry, mein freund, no such luck," Kurt told him. He put an arm around Ororo's waist, delighted at how she pressed herself subtly closer to him. "Ororo, this is my friend and coworker, Steve Wallen."
"A painful pleasure," he said with a regretful sigh. He reached forward and shook her hand. "How in the world did you manage to get to her first, Kurt?" he asked dejectedly.
Ororo smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, Steven," she replied in an amused tone.
"And now we need to go, we only have an hour for lunch," Kurt reminded her.
"Of course, it was a pleasure meeting you," Ororo said. Kurt felt her loop an arm around his waist. "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice filled with giddy anticipation. He smiled again, amazed that he was producing such a reaction from this insanely beautiful woman.
"You will find out," he told her. Then he wrapped her up in his arms, sighing as she fit perfectly against him, and bamphed them away.
"Where is this?" she asked, looking curiously up the row of doors that they were standing in front of.
"This is my apartment building," Kurt said. "My room is one floor up, directly above us."
"And we are eating here?" she asked.
"Ja, one of my dearest friends has invited me and 'whoever it was I spent all weekend with' to lunch today." "Because it appears that you are the guilty party, I am forced to drag you along." He gave her a grin as he said the word 'forced'. She smiled back and he held off the urge to kiss her again as the door opened.
"Kurt!" came the almost exclamation. "I am surprised you actually showed up this time," the elderly woman told him. Her smile took the bite out of the words. She ushered them inside as Kurt replied to her barb.
"That was one time, Mina, will you never allow me to forget it?" he asked. His tone was amusedly tolerant and she seemed to take exception to it.
"Well that's what you get for standing up an old woman," she said. "I may not remember what I had for breakfast today, but I never forget the opportunity to deliver a good guilt trip." She gave him another wide smile, her tired brown eyes suddenly lighting. "And speaking of an opportunity, where are your manners, boy?" She smirked at his puzzled look. Mina nodded to Ororo, who had followed them into the living room from the hallway. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend?"
Ororo arched an eyebrow as Kurt blushed a surprisingly bright fuchsia. He stammered slightly, that and his accent made his first words unintelligible. He paused, blushed again, and then started over. "Mina, this is Ororo Munroe, a dear friend and hopefully more; Ororo, Elmina Brooster, a combination surrogate mother, grandmother, and sister." At Mina's chuckle he grimaced and added in a not so soft whisper, "She keeps me humble."
Ororo gave him an amused look and shook hands with his friend. She was immediately asked to call her Mina and encouraged the older woman to address her as Ororo. Kurt had thought from the beginning that the two would get on famously, which was why he had angled for the invitation. He had no idea why he felt the desire to integrate Ororo into his inner circle after knowing her for such a short time, but he couldn't deny that it felt good to have such implicit trust in someone.
The hour passed quickly, and in a flurry of conversation. Mina proceeded to skip from topic to topic with reckless abandon. She loved company, Kurt being her special favorite. She had served up sandwiches and iced tea, and for dessert a slice of delectable cheesecake. Kurt happily stayed until they had only five minutes. He gave Ororo a quick but intense kiss that they both enjoyed. He proceeded to bamf to work with her promise of meeting him at Myrons for dinner, while she left from the small balcony with a feeling of contentment and Mina's cheesecake recipe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's just that I'm not sure that Kurt is up to handling the kinds of things that sometimes crop up in my life," Ororo confessed, taking a sip of her lemonade. She was already dressed for her date, but she didn't need to leave for at least half an hour. Jean and Marie gave sympathetic nods.
"Well, I don't really have to worry about Logan not being able to handle himself in combat," Marie replied. Her not exactly new relationship with Logan had gone through the rumor mill like lightning. It was then promptly digested without a ripple of anything more serious than an exasperated "Finally!" (Coming from Jean and Ororo.)
"I used to worry about Scott's fighting skills, but now I've gone against him myself and I know he is at least marginally capable." Jean gave a small shrug. "You know, with Kurt having such an obvious mutation, it's very likely that he long ago learned how to defend himself."
Ororo sighed. "It's just that he seems so gentle and so defenseless." She smiled sadly, "Not that I don't love that about him, I do, but I worry that he will be in danger just by association."
"Challenge him to a duel," Marie suggested, grinning in a feral way that was more than vaguely reminiscent of Logan. She caught their raised eyebrows. "What, I'm sleeping with Wolverine, a few things are bound to rub off."
"Speaking of that, how's Kurt with the physical part of the relationship?" Jean asked.
Ororo blushed but answered the question. "He says he doesn't believe in having sex until you are sure that you want to marry that person," Ororo said. "Which is commendable, but very frustrating." "I'm respecting his wishes," she paused, a small smile on her face, "but I am planning on learning how far he'll let me take him before he draws the line."
"So you're going to half seduce him?" Rogue asked, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Jean gave her a lazy look, "Sort of like what you and Logan did in the back room of the Blackbird just before our last mission started." Marie actually blushed, thinking of last night's information gathering expedition.
"Hey," she protested, getting the blush under control. "That's for good luck!"
"What did you guys find out anyway?" Ororo asked, curious.
"We've got some documentation, I can tell that we are getting closer to the center of this ring," Jean told her.
"Jean also skimmed some of the minds there," Rogue said, ignoring Jeans frown.
"I'll psychically cross reference the two mental encounters tonight during meditation and I may be able to come up with something," Jean told her.
"Good, when I come back we'll go round up some bad guys and I can tell you all about my date," Ororo said. "Oh, and Rogue could you do me a favor?"
"Not if it involves checking any papers," Marie said firmly.
"No, I already looked over all the tests, I just need you to take them all to my classrooms." She gave Marie a grimace, "I meant to do it, but it slipped my mind when I thought I had lost my shoes."
Marie rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless. "I guess that won't cut down too much on my...free time." She smiled at the thought.
Jean gave her an amused look. "All you guys do is have sex."
"Our love expresses itself in a physical way," Rogue said pompously. She gave her a superior look completely at odds with the gleam in her eyes. Her lips suddenly twisted into a naughty grin. "I'll see you guys later, I just felt the need to express myself."
"Don't forget the papers!" Ororo called after her retreating figure. The vague wave was not reassuring, but she shrugged it off.
"I'll remind her," Jean said. "And now you'd better go."
"I've still got ten minutes," Ororo protested.
"You'll want the time to fix your hair after the flight," Jean told her, just before pushing her out of the house and going in search of Cyclops. Suddenly she also felt like expressing something.
"Thank you for dinner, Ororo," Kurt told her as they walked out the back door. "It was," he paused, "interesting."
Ororo looked slightly embarrassed, "They were just showing off for someone new, normally they are better behaved than that." She almost blushed at the powers her friends had wantonly displayed for Kurt's benefit. She had finally put a stop to it when Scott had tried to carve a slice of pizza out with his laser vision. Ororo sighed, she could always count on her friends to be as childish as possible when showing their powers off to a new mutant.
"I noticed Logan was missing," Kurt said, trying to changed the topic away from the slightly uncomfortable subject. "I was half expecting him to be laying some sort of elaborate 'Acme' trap for me."
"I actually think he was in the danger room," Ororo told him, wicked humor dancing in her eyes. "He had some apologizing to do." "Of course that doesn't mean that an anvil won't fall on you the minute you step outside." They both smiled at the image of Logan as Wiley Coyote.
Kurt glanced at the night, feeling somehow incredibly loathe to leave this woman. She had sparked something in him, that was a certainty. He turned back, stepping closer to her. "I will see you again, Ororo?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Just try and keep me away," she said just as quietly. He was so close it was almost driving her insane.
Kurt lifted his hand to her cheek, running one thumb over her lips. "Mein leibchen, my darling," he murmured moving steadily closer to her aching lips, "my love," he whispered, finally gently pressing them to hers. Their tongues met in a dance that seemed almost well-known, but no less precious for it's familiarity. The heady, euphoric feeling of passion wrapped them up in an impenetrable cocoon. Ororo was certain that if the Friends of Humanity sent a task force into the school to apprehend everyone she wouldn't even notice. Her entire world was his lips against hers and his hands seemingly everywhere at once, either unaware of the delicious torment they were causing or unable to stop themselves. The only thing that pulled them apart was a desperate need to continue breathing.
"Kurt," Ororo gasped, panting not only from a lack of air. "We should really stop doing that to each other," she said with a small grin. She noticed that her knees felt strangely weak at the moment.
Kurt took a deep breath, leaning his forehead to touch hers. "I try to stop myself, but my willpower is nonexistent where you are concerned."
She definitely knew the feeling. "We're going to have to be careful if you want to maintain that choir boy image," she told him with a joking smile that was completely at odds with the smoldering desire in her eyes. "You had better go Kurt, before I do something I won't regret."
Kurt was half convinced she really would, and absolutely sure that if she offered herself to him with another of those mind-blowing kisses he would never be able to resist. "Temptation certainly is all it's cracked up to be," Kurt thought as he teleported away from the Institute. He reflexively murmured a catholic prayer as he headed for a cold shower. Tomorrow he would call her again, he promised himself as he crawled into bed. He knew her schedule and she knew his, they were both certain they could manage to meet at least once a day. For the first time in a long time Kurt thanked God for making him a mutant, and then he fell asleep feeling better than he had in quite awhile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kurt awoke the next morning from a nebulous dream full of shadows and beautiful white-haired women. He sighed and unwound himself from the bright coverlet on his bed. It took him a record ten minutes to shower, dress, shave, and gather his things. He checked his messages and, satisfied that everything was finished, bamfed to work.
"Mr. Wagner, I finished the story and you need to check it over, the others already turned theirs in but mine's a little late; please don't fire me!" the petite intern said all in one breath and throwing a compellingly desperate gaze at him.
Kurt chuckled slightly at her comically desperate tone. "Do not worry, this is your first offence and technically it is still on time," he told her. His accent seemed a bit more pronounced this morning.
"Oh thank you, Mr. Wagner," she said with obvious relief. "I hope you like it, I worked really hard on it."
"Then I'm sure it will be perfect," he replied with a calm smile.
She gave him a radiant grin and almost skipped off to continue her work. Kurt shook his head at the youthful enthusiasm and continued to his office. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to make up for taking Saturday off. Almost four hours later Kurt had finished reading and organizing the next edition of The Provincial Herald and was more than ready for his break. "Especially since I'll be spending it with Ororo," he thought with a grin. He was about to bamf out when Steven Wallen opened his door.
"Yo, Kurt, come on, let's catch some lunch," he said with an infectious smile.
"Normally I would love to, but I have a date today," he told his friend.
Steve gave him a mock-stunned look, placing a hand to his chest in a melodramatic facsimile of a heart attack. "No way, are you telling me that Mr. Chastity has scored?" he asked, grinning broadly. He performed an oriental bow. "I have taught you well young grasshopper."
Kurt raised an aloof eyebrow. "Ororo is not a 'score', as you so delicately put it," Kurt told him. "She is-" he was cut off by a buzz from his intercom.
"Yes?" he asked, pushing the button.
"Mr. Wagner, there's someone here to see you," Vera Griphen, his assistant, told him.
Kurt's brow rose; it looked like Ororo had sought him out. "I'll be right out." He turned off the intercom and motioned to his friend. "Come, you can meet her," he told Steve, knowing the insanely curious man couldn't help but follow him.
"Hey, there you are, now we can eat," she said with a dazzling smile.
Kurt grinned back, feeling that familiar weakness come over him whenever she looked at him that way. "Ach, heaven forbid I keep you from your meal," he said, only half joking.
"And don't you forget it," she told him, pulling him down to give him a light kiss, the merest brushing of her lips against his. "What delicious temptation, mein sturmliebe," he told her.
"Please tell me that sturmliebe means sister," Steve moaned from behind them, his face twisted in an exaggeratedly hopeful expression.
"Sorry, mein freund, no such luck," Kurt told him. He put an arm around Ororo's waist, delighted at how she pressed herself subtly closer to him. "Ororo, this is my friend and coworker, Steve Wallen."
"A painful pleasure," he said with a regretful sigh. He reached forward and shook her hand. "How in the world did you manage to get to her first, Kurt?" he asked dejectedly.
Ororo smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, Steven," she replied in an amused tone.
"And now we need to go, we only have an hour for lunch," Kurt reminded her.
"Of course, it was a pleasure meeting you," Ororo said. Kurt felt her loop an arm around his waist. "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice filled with giddy anticipation. He smiled again, amazed that he was producing such a reaction from this insanely beautiful woman.
"You will find out," he told her. Then he wrapped her up in his arms, sighing as she fit perfectly against him, and bamphed them away.
"Where is this?" she asked, looking curiously up the row of doors that they were standing in front of.
"This is my apartment building," Kurt said. "My room is one floor up, directly above us."
"And we are eating here?" she asked.
"Ja, one of my dearest friends has invited me and 'whoever it was I spent all weekend with' to lunch today." "Because it appears that you are the guilty party, I am forced to drag you along." He gave her a grin as he said the word 'forced'. She smiled back and he held off the urge to kiss her again as the door opened.
"Kurt!" came the almost exclamation. "I am surprised you actually showed up this time," the elderly woman told him. Her smile took the bite out of the words. She ushered them inside as Kurt replied to her barb.
"That was one time, Mina, will you never allow me to forget it?" he asked. His tone was amusedly tolerant and she seemed to take exception to it.
"Well that's what you get for standing up an old woman," she said. "I may not remember what I had for breakfast today, but I never forget the opportunity to deliver a good guilt trip." She gave him another wide smile, her tired brown eyes suddenly lighting. "And speaking of an opportunity, where are your manners, boy?" She smirked at his puzzled look. Mina nodded to Ororo, who had followed them into the living room from the hallway. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend?"
Ororo arched an eyebrow as Kurt blushed a surprisingly bright fuchsia. He stammered slightly, that and his accent made his first words unintelligible. He paused, blushed again, and then started over. "Mina, this is Ororo Munroe, a dear friend and hopefully more; Ororo, Elmina Brooster, a combination surrogate mother, grandmother, and sister." At Mina's chuckle he grimaced and added in a not so soft whisper, "She keeps me humble."
Ororo gave him an amused look and shook hands with his friend. She was immediately asked to call her Mina and encouraged the older woman to address her as Ororo. Kurt had thought from the beginning that the two would get on famously, which was why he had angled for the invitation. He had no idea why he felt the desire to integrate Ororo into his inner circle after knowing her for such a short time, but he couldn't deny that it felt good to have such implicit trust in someone.
The hour passed quickly, and in a flurry of conversation. Mina proceeded to skip from topic to topic with reckless abandon. She loved company, Kurt being her special favorite. She had served up sandwiches and iced tea, and for dessert a slice of delectable cheesecake. Kurt happily stayed until they had only five minutes. He gave Ororo a quick but intense kiss that they both enjoyed. He proceeded to bamf to work with her promise of meeting him at Myrons for dinner, while she left from the small balcony with a feeling of contentment and Mina's cheesecake recipe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's just that I'm not sure that Kurt is up to handling the kinds of things that sometimes crop up in my life," Ororo confessed, taking a sip of her lemonade. She was already dressed for her date, but she didn't need to leave for at least half an hour. Jean and Marie gave sympathetic nods.
"Well, I don't really have to worry about Logan not being able to handle himself in combat," Marie replied. Her not exactly new relationship with Logan had gone through the rumor mill like lightning. It was then promptly digested without a ripple of anything more serious than an exasperated "Finally!" (Coming from Jean and Ororo.)
"I used to worry about Scott's fighting skills, but now I've gone against him myself and I know he is at least marginally capable." Jean gave a small shrug. "You know, with Kurt having such an obvious mutation, it's very likely that he long ago learned how to defend himself."
Ororo sighed. "It's just that he seems so gentle and so defenseless." She smiled sadly, "Not that I don't love that about him, I do, but I worry that he will be in danger just by association."
"Challenge him to a duel," Marie suggested, grinning in a feral way that was more than vaguely reminiscent of Logan. She caught their raised eyebrows. "What, I'm sleeping with Wolverine, a few things are bound to rub off."
"Speaking of that, how's Kurt with the physical part of the relationship?" Jean asked.
Ororo blushed but answered the question. "He says he doesn't believe in having sex until you are sure that you want to marry that person," Ororo said. "Which is commendable, but very frustrating." "I'm respecting his wishes," she paused, a small smile on her face, "but I am planning on learning how far he'll let me take him before he draws the line."
"So you're going to half seduce him?" Rogue asked, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Jean gave her a lazy look, "Sort of like what you and Logan did in the back room of the Blackbird just before our last mission started." Marie actually blushed, thinking of last night's information gathering expedition.
"Hey," she protested, getting the blush under control. "That's for good luck!"
"What did you guys find out anyway?" Ororo asked, curious.
"We've got some documentation, I can tell that we are getting closer to the center of this ring," Jean told her.
"Jean also skimmed some of the minds there," Rogue said, ignoring Jeans frown.
"I'll psychically cross reference the two mental encounters tonight during meditation and I may be able to come up with something," Jean told her.
"Good, when I come back we'll go round up some bad guys and I can tell you all about my date," Ororo said. "Oh, and Rogue could you do me a favor?"
"Not if it involves checking any papers," Marie said firmly.
"No, I already looked over all the tests, I just need you to take them all to my classrooms." She gave Marie a grimace, "I meant to do it, but it slipped my mind when I thought I had lost my shoes."
Marie rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless. "I guess that won't cut down too much on my...free time." She smiled at the thought.
Jean gave her an amused look. "All you guys do is have sex."
"Our love expresses itself in a physical way," Rogue said pompously. She gave her a superior look completely at odds with the gleam in her eyes. Her lips suddenly twisted into a naughty grin. "I'll see you guys later, I just felt the need to express myself."
"Don't forget the papers!" Ororo called after her retreating figure. The vague wave was not reassuring, but she shrugged it off.
"I'll remind her," Jean said. "And now you'd better go."
"I've still got ten minutes," Ororo protested.
"You'll want the time to fix your hair after the flight," Jean told her, just before pushing her out of the house and going in search of Cyclops. Suddenly she also felt like expressing something.